The exquisite countertenor Reginald Mobley put together an engaging and thoughtful programme based around Ignatius Sancho. Roderick Williams, one of the most generous and poised musicians I know, wrote us a new piece based on Sancho’s powerful letters. Investigating how Sancho, a former slave, created an identity as a free Englishman advocating abolition and equality, as well as exploring how foreigners such as Geminiani fit into and influenced England’s musical life, was always going to speak to my immigrant soul. But when our fixer told me that Bojan [AAM leader, Bojan Čičić] wasn’t available and could I lead, the project took on an additional personal thrill. The excitement of leading such wonderful musicians wasn’t totally new to me, having done it several times since 2019, but this programme was particularly special. The project felt both adventurous and smooth as silk.
I have been playing with AAM since 2001. Before the days of formal auditions, I crept in as an occasional player at the back of the section. I’ve seen many changes, not least Christopher Hogwood’s decision to step down, Richard Egarr’s tenure with the group, and the start of Laurence’s relationship with us. I’ve seen leaders and principals change. But throughout these transformations, the group has had a consistent beauty of sound, seriousness of thought, and audacity of interpretation.
‘Transformation’ is the title of AAM’s new season. Each of us no doubt has our own transformation story. When I was 14, Dorothy DeLay accepted me as her student at Juilliard. For three years I dived into the big 19th-century violin concertos, playing Bach on the side. My technique developed through her demanding and highly disciplined approach, much of which was antithetical to the breathing phrases and subtleties of sound production that the pioneers of early music had already been exploring for a couple of decades. It never crossed my mind that I would one day specialise in a style of playing that was virtually unknown to my peers and teachers.
But even by then, I had undergone a transformation. I grew up hearing my mother play piano while my father explored early music and instruments with an engineer’s thorough attention to detail. He had a collection of recorders, a resin cornetto he had no idea how to play, and one of my earliest memories is of peeking into the room where he had laid out all the pieces of a Zuckermann harpsichord kit he built as an anniversary gift for my mother. Once I got beyond the ‘Twinkle’ stage of playing the violin, we would play trio sonatas together. I was heartbroken the day they said they wouldn’t play with me any more because they didn’t want to hold me back.
Juilliard was a tremendous experience, and being concertmaster of the orchestra ensured I wasn’t only mired in solo violin repertoire. But I found the environment competitive and restrictive. I wanted a broader education, so I went to Yale, where I studied English literature, followed by a law degree at Columbia. I kept playing throughout, mostly with a piano trio and as a member of the New Haven Symphony. When I found a job after I passed the bar exam, I moved to Atlanta, where I also freelanced with the opera and ballet while trying to figure out how to become a full-time musician again.
I came to London with two suitcases and one violin to do a postgraduate degree with David Takeno at Guildhall. While there, I had baroque violin lessons with Rachel Podger. Bill Carter and Nicholas Parle’s 17th-century class made me fall in love with historical performance and remember my early introduction to it through my father’s interest. Rachel Brown’s course on classical interpretation was just as inspiring, as was Frank de Bruine’s coaching on a course in Innsbruck I attended.
Four violins, a viola d’amore, and a flat full of stuff later, I have a busy freelance schedule not only with AAM but also with the Gabrieli Consort, the Early Opera Company, English Concert, and whoever else will have me! I’m Artistic Director of Devon Baroque, and I guest lead for various groups including Instruments of Time and Truth, and Orquestra Barroca Casa da Musica in Porto. Not nearly often enough, I play with my chamber ensemble Gut Instinct alongside fellow AAM members Liz MacCarthy (violin) and Joe Crouch (cello), with Tom Foster on keyboards.
Actéon aside (as we will see in October), the best transformations turn us into better versions of ourselves. I hope I can contribute for many more years as AAM continues its journey adapting and leading the way into the future of historical performance and the performing arts, in this country and across the world.
September 2024
